+ Bergamot Station

What was once a trolley station until 1953, and then a manufacturing site until 1987, is now a complex of art galleries and museums located smellingly close to the Santa Monica dump. But don't let that put you off (you can't smell the dump... much).


Hiromi Paper


A school kids project on the hallway leading into the courtyard.








This old dog positioned radomnly upon a block within the gallery sat so still, it was a little creepy.






"Baby Crazed" by Ed Moses, up close. From a distance though it looked like different paper stocks. My favourite set of the day.


"Luminesence" by Arik Levy in the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

+ the city of lost angles

I had an internship interview on Friday downtown and being a little nervous about getting down there by bus, I took a reconnaissance trip the day before to familiarise myself with the layout. I'm really glad I did - it was a good opportunity to get a feel for the area, and to earmark places to return to the next day.



Downtown LA does not enjoy a particularly good reputation as being a must-visit area, but many of the older buildings were surprisingly lovely (set between smells of hobo urine...) The building where I interviewed was itself an old bank converted into office studios upstairs and a swanky bar downstairs in the former vaults.

Th block before on Spring St featured this street art.


Walking up on 5th St towards Bunker Hill.


The next day, after the interview, I walked back up towards the Hill, to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). I was stymied by said Hill, until I noticed a little trolley gently gliding up and down. Score!

For just 25 cents, it takes you up gracefully without need for exertion or sweat.




On my way to MOCA, I was blinded by the silver brilliance of Walt Disney Concert Hall. Its steely layers beckoned.


At the Museum, I found this James Rosenquist piece highly alluring. I think it's called Waves.


As was this neon configuration, by I forget whom.


DTLA - it's what you make of it.


More photos in this flickr set.

+ Getty Center in the winter

We spent the good part of the last day of 2009 at the Getty Center, high up in the hills of Los Angeles, and probably only saw a fraction of the collections stored there. It was a battle just deciding whether to see stuff or just enjoy the lovely gardens and the spectacular views of the city. Even in winter, the sky was blue, the rays of sunshine warm and the green lawns super inviting.


As a thousand flickr photos could testify, the Getty Center is an immensely photogenic set of buildings. All those sexy lady humps and whatnot.


Benj took a good deal more photos than me, and much better looking ones for that matter. He did well to capture the many textures in the gardens.






Soundtrack: Tristeza "Castellon"